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How is a Major Policy Decision Taken?

• Government of India appointed a Commission in 1979, headed by B.P. Mandal, called Second Backward Commission.

• Commission gave a report in 1980. One of the suggestions was to reserve 27 per cent of government jobs for Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC).

• Parliament discussed this for many years.

• Janata Dal won elections in 1989. V.P. Singh, the Prime Minister, decided to implement

reservations.

• The President announced it in his address to the Parliament.

• On 6 August 1990, the Cabinet decided to implement and the Prime Minister announced it in both Houses of Parliament.

• The senior officers drafted an order, signed by an officer and it became the Memorandum issued on 13 August 1990.

• There was a heated debate on the issue and it was finally taken to the Supreme Court. The case was known as “Indira Sawhney and others vs Union of India case.”

• In 1992 Supreme Court declared the Mandal order as valid but asked for some modifications.

Also check: Working of Institutions Notes Class 9th Civics Chapter 5

Need for Political Institutions

• A government has to perform various duties, formulate policies and implement them.

• Some have to formulate schemes, some have to take decisions, some have to implement the decisions.

• Hence the need for institutions to do all the above.

• The Constitution of a country lays down basic rules on powers and functions of each institution.

• The institutions are the Legislative (Parliament), the Executive (the Government) and the Judiciary.

Parliament : (i) It is needed as final authority to make laws in the country. (ii) To exercise control over the workings of the government. (iii) To control the expenditure of the government, and control public money. (iv) As the highest forum of discussion and debate it decides public issues and national policies.

• Two Houses of Parliament. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The former has elected representatives and is the House of People.

• The Rajya Sabha elected by the elected members of each State Assembly is called the Council of States.

• Lok Sabha is more important in money matters, control over the executive, has more members.

• Rajya Sabha is more important in matters concerning the states.

• Lok Sabha is elected for a period of five years. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent House, with one third members retiring every two years. The term of each member is for six years.

Political Executive

• The President, the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers and the civil servants form the executive.

• The Political Executive consists of political leaders elected by the people, who act on their behalf and are responsible to the public who elected them. They take all the decisions, understand the overall picture.

• The second category is called the permanent executive consisting of civil servants. They help the political executive in carrying out the day to day work. They are experts but do not take the final decision.

• Prime Minister has three kind of ministers to help him : (i) Cabinet Ministers, (ii) Ministers of State and (iii) Deputy Ministers.

• The Prime Minister’s position is supreme. He chooses his Cabinet and his decision is final, except in a coalition government where he has to listen to other party members.

• When the Prime Minister quits, the entire ministry quits.

• The President is the nominal head in India. He is not directly elected by the people as in

USA.

• All the Members of Parliament and Members of the State Legislatures elect him. Since he

is elected indirectly, he does not have the same powers as the Prime Minister.

• The President exercises all his legislative, executive, financial, judicial, military powers only on the advice of the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers.

• The President can only delay a bill. If the Parliament passes it again, he has to sign it.

• President has the power to appoint the leaders when there is a coalition on his own discretion.

The Judiciary: India has one of the most powerful judiciaries.

• The Judiciary is independent of both the Executive and the Legislature.

• The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers.

• The other judges of the Supreme Court and the State High Courts are appointed in the same way but on the advice of the Chief Justice.

• Once appointed, the Judges can be removed only by impeachment.

• The Judiciary is the custodian of the Constitution, and the Supreme Court and the High Courts have the power to interpret the Constitution.

• It can declare any law passed by the Legislature as invalid, if it violates the Constitution.

• It safeguards the Fundamental Rights of the people of India, and checks malpractices and misuse of power by the Executive or the Legislature.

Working of Institutions

A Government Order

An order announces a major policy decision taken by the government for immediate implementation.

The Decision Makers

1. President is the head of the state and is the highest formal authority in the country.
2. Prime Minister is the head of the government and actually exercises governmental powers. He takes most of the decisions in theCabinet meetings.
3. Parliament consists of two Houses, LokSabha and RajyaSabha. The parliament makes important laws to be followed by everyone.

A long chain of events before the passing of Government Order for OBC reservation.

1. The Government of India hadappointed the Second BackwardClasses Commission in 1979. It washeaded by B.P. Mandal. Hence it waspopularly called the MandalCommission.
2. The Commission gaveits Report in 1980 and made manyrecommendations. One of these wasthat 27 per cent of government jobsbe reserved for the socially andeconomically backward classes.
3. For several years, many parliamentarians and parties kept demanding the implementation of the commission’s recommendations.
4. Then came the LokSabha electionof 1989. In its election manifesto, theJanata Dal promised that if voted topower, it would implement theMandal Commission report.
5. Janata Dal did form the government after this election. Its leader V. P.Singh became the Prime Minister and he implemented it.

Involvement of several political institutions in implementing OBC reservation (Mondal Commission recommendations):

1. The President of India in hisaddress to the Parliamentannounced the intention of thegovernment to implement therecommendations of the MandalCommission.
2. On 6 August 1990, the union cabinet took a formal decision to implement the recommendations.
3. Next day Prime Minister V.P. Singh informed the Parliament about this decision through a statement both the Houses of Parliament.
4. The decision of the Cabinet wassent to the Department of Personneland Training. The senior officers ofthe Department drafted an order inline with the Cabinet decision andtook the minister’s approval.
5.  Anofficer signed the order on behalf ofthe Union Government. This washow OBC reservation bill wasborn on August 13, 1990. Many approached the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court judgesin 1992 declared that this order of the Government of India was valid.

What are political Institutions? Need for Political Institutions in India

Several arrangements to provide social security, education, health and basic needs are made inall modern democracies. Sucharrangements are called institutions.A democracy works well whenthese institutions perform functionsassigned to them.

1. The Parliament makes important laws foe the entire nation.
2. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are institutions that take all important policy decisions.
3. The Civil Servants, working together, are responsible for taking steps to implement the ministers’decisions.
4. Supreme Court is an institution where a dispute between citizens and the government is finally settled.

Also Check: Civics Class 9th Social Studies Study Materials, Notes, NCERT Solutions

What is Parliament? Why do we need a Parliament?

An assembly ofelected representatives which exercisessupreme political authority onbehalf of the people. In India, such a national assembly of electedrepresentatives is called Parliament.

1. Parliament is the final authority formaking laws in any country.Parliamentsall over the world can make newlaws, change existing laws, orabolish existing laws and makenew ones in their place.
2. Parliaments all over the would exercise some control over those who run the government. In some countries like India this control direct and full.
3. Parliaments control all the moneythat governments have. In mostcountries, the public moneycan be spent only when theParliament sanctions it.
4. Parliament is the highest forum of discussion and debate on public issues and national policy in any country. Parliament can seek information about any matter.

Two Houses of Parliament

1. In our country, the Parliamentconsists of two Houses. The twoHouses are known as the Council ofStates (RajyaSabha) and the Houseof the People (LokSabha).
2. The total number of elected members of LokSabha is 543+2 Anglo Indian nominated members.The total number of members of RajyaSabha is 238+12 nominated members.
3. Members of LokSabha are elected by the people. Members of RajyaSabha are elected by the MLAs and MPs.
4. The length of the term of LokSabha members is 5 years.The length of the term of RajyaSabha members is 6 years
5. LokSabha can be dissolved but Raya Sabha is permanent and only the members retire.

How does LokSabha exercise supreme power than RajyaSabha?

1. Any ordinary law needs to bepassed by both the Houses. But ifthere is a difference between thetwo Houses, the final decision istaken in a joint session in whichthe view ofthe LokSabha is likely to prevail.
2. LokSabha exercises more powersin money matters. Once the LokSabha passes the budget of thegovernment or any other moneyrelated law, the RajyaSabhacannot reject but can only delay it by 14 days.
3. Most importantly, the LokSabha controls the Council of Ministers. Only a person who enjoys the support of the majority of the members in the LokSabha is appointed the Prime Minister.
4.  If the majority of the LokSabha members say they have ‘no confidence’ in the Council of Ministers, all ministers including the Prime Minister, have to quit. theRajyaSabha does not have this power.

Executive

At different levels of anygovernment we find functionarieswho take day-to-day decisions and implement those decisions onbehalf of the people. All thosefunctionaries are collectively knownas the executive.

Political and Permanent Executive

1. Politician who is elected by the people for a specific period is called thepolitical executive. Political leaderswho take the big decisions fall in thiscategory.
2. Officers who are appointed on a long-term basis based on their qualification and experience. They are called the permanent executive or civil servants. They remain in office even when the ruling party changes.

Why does the political executive have more power than the non-political executive? OR

Why is the minister more powerful than the civil servant?

1. In a democracy the will of the people is supreme. The minister is elected by the people and thus empowered to exercise the will of the people on their behalf.
2. The Minister is finally answerable to the people for all the consequences of her decision. Thatis why the minister takes all the final decisions.
3.  The minister decides the overall framework and objectives in which decisions on policy should be made.
4. The minister is notexpected to be an expert in thematters of her ministry. The ministertakes the advice of experts on alltechnical matters.
5. The experts can tell the route, but the minister with a larger view decide the destination.

Council of Ministers and Types of ministers:

Council of Ministers is the official name for the body that includes all the Ministers. It usually has 60 to80 Ministers of different ranks.

1. Cabinet Ministers are usually top-level leaders of the ruling party or parties who are in charge of themajor ministries. Usually theCabinet Ministers meet to takedecisions in the name of theCouncil of Ministers.
2. Ministers of State with independentcharge are usually in-chargeof smaller Ministries. Theyparticipate in the Cabinet meetingsonly when specially invited.
3. Ministers of State or Deputy ministers are attached to and required to assist cabinet ministers in their work.

Prime Minister and Powers of the Prime Minister

Prime Minister is the most importantpolitical institutionin the country.ThePresident appoints the leader of themajority party or the coalition ofparties that commands a majorityin the LokSabha, as Prime Minister.

1. As head of the government, the prime minister has wide-ranging powers.
2. He chairs Cabinet meetings. He coordinates the work of differentDepartments. His decisions are finalin case disagreements arise betweenDepartments.
3.  He exercises general supervision of different ministries.All ministers work under his leadership.
4. The Prime Minister distributes and redistributes work to the ministers. He also has the power to dismiss ministers.
5. When the Prime Minister quits the entire ministry quits.The Cabinet is the most powerful institution in India and within the Cabinet the Prime Minister who is the most powerful.

Prime Ministerial form of government.

Thepowers of the Prime Minister in allparliamentary democracies of theworld have increased so many inrecent decades that parliamentarydemocracies are seen asPrime Ministerial form ofgovernment.

The President and Powers of the President:

The President isthe head of the State. The Presidentof India is like the Queen of Britainwhose functions are to a large extentceremonial. The President is elected by all the Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of State Legislative Assemblies (MLAs).

1. The President supervises the overall functioning of all the political institutions in the country so that they operate in harmony to achieve the objectives of the state.
2. All governmental activities takeplace in the name of the President.All laws and major policy decisionsof the government are issued in hername.
3. All major appointments aremade in the name of the President.These include the appointment ofthe Chief Justice of India, theJudges of the Supreme Court andthe High Courts, theGovernors, the ElectionCommissioners, ambassadors to other countries, etc.
4. All international treaties and agreements are made in the name of the President.
5. ThePresident is the supreme commander of the defense forces of India.President exercises all these powers only on the advice of the Council of ministers.

What is Judiciary?

All thecourts at different levels in a countryput together are called the judiciary.The Indian judiciary consists of aSupreme Court for the entire nation,High Courts in the states, DistrictCourts and the courts at local level.

Types of cases or disputes handled by the courts:

1. Cases Between citizens of the country.
2. Cases between citizens and government.
3. Cases between two or more state governments; and
4. Cases between governments at the union and state level.

Powers of the Supreme Court and High Court

1. Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal incivil and criminal cases. It can hearappeals against the decisions of theHigh Courts.
2. The Supreme Court and the HighCourts have the power to interpretthe Constitution of the country. Theycan declare invalid any law of thelegislature if they find sucha law or action is against theConstitution.
3. The Supreme Court candetermine the Constitutional validityof any legislation or action of theexecutive in the country, when it ischallenged before them. This isknown as the judicial review.
4. The powers and the independence of the Indian judiciary allow it to act as the guardian of the Fundamental Rights. We shall see in the next chapter that the citizens have a right to approach the courts to seek remedy in case of any violation of their rights
5. Courts have given severaljudgments and directives to protectpublic interest and human rights.Anyone can approach the courts ifpublic interest is hurt by the actionsof government. This is called publicinterest litigation.

Independence of the judiciary

1. Independence of the judiciarymeans that it is not under thecontrol of the legislature or theexecutive. The judges do not act onthe direction of the government oraccording to the wishes of the partyin power.
2. The judges of the SupremeCourt and the High Courts areappointed by the President on theadvice of the Prime Minister and inconsultation with the Chief Justiceof the Supreme Court. Once aperson is appointed as judge of theSupreme Court or the High Court itis nearly impossible to remove himor her from that position.
3. A judge can be removed only by an impeachment motion passed separately by two-third members of the two Houses of parliament.

A. Why Elections?

• Elections are a democratic way of selecting representatives.

• They ensure that the representatives rule as per the wishes of the people.

• Elections help voters to choose representatives who will make laws for them, form the

government and take major decisions.

• The voters can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and law

making.

• Thus election is a mechanism by which people can choose their representatives at regular intervals and change them if they wish to.

B. What Makes an Election Democratic?

• Everyone should be able to choose, i.e. everyone should have one vote and every vote should have equal value. Universal Adult Franchise.

• There should be parties and candidates to choose from, freedom to contest and a wide choice for people.

• Elections must be held at regular intervals.

• Candidate preferred by the people should be elected.

• Elections should be held in a fair and free atmosphere to be democratic.

C. Political Competition: Demerits

• Creates a sense of disunity and ‘party politics’.

• Parties level allegations against each other of using dirty tricks to win elections.

• Long-term policies cannot be formulated.

• Good people do not enter politics.

Merits: Elections are good because they force the ruling party to perform. The government is aware that it will be voted out of power if it does not perform as the people expected.

• It forces parties and leaders to perform, so competition is good.

D. Our Election System

• First a voters list is compiled.

• Then the election date is announced.

• The country is divided into constituencies for purpose of elections.

• The voters have to elect one representative for the Lok Sabha from each constituency (Lok Sabha has 543 constituencies), called Member of Parliament. The constituencies are formed on basis of population.

• Similarly, each state is divided into constituencies and a specific number of members called Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected.

• The dates of General Elections are announced.

• Each party declares its Manifesto and prepares a list of nominations.

Electoral Politics Notes Class 9th Civics

Electoral Politics Notes

What is an Election?

A mechanism by which people choose their representatives at regular intervals and change the representatives if they wish to do so. This mechanism is called an election.

Why do we need elections?

1. Elections take place regularly in all democracies. A rule of the people is not possible in any large country and it is not possible for everyone to have the time and knowledge to take decisions on all matters.Therefore in most democracies, people rule through their representatives.
2. Therefore, elections are considered essential in our times for any representative democracy.In an election the voters make many choices:

• They can choose representatives who will make laws for them.
• They can choose leaders who will form the government and take major decisions.
• They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and law making.

What makes an election democratic?(a simple list of the minimum conditions of a democratic election)

1. First, everyone should be able to choose. This means that everyone should have one vote and every vote should have equal value.
2. Second, there should be something to choose from. Parties and candidates should be free to contest elections and should offer some real choice to the voters.
3. Third, the choice should be offered at regular intervals. Elections must be held regularly after every few years.
4. Fourth, the candidate preferred by the people should get elected.
5. Fifth, elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can choose as they really wish.

Is it good to have political competition? (Merits and Demerits of electoral or political competition)

Demerits:

1.  It creates a sense of disunity and‘factionalism’ in every locality.
2. Different political parties and leaders often level allegations against one another.
3. Parties and candidates often use dirty tricks to win elections.
4. Some good people who may wish to serve the country do not enter this competition. They do not like the idea of being dragged into the unhealthy competition.

Merits

1. Our Constitution makers wereaware of these problems. Yet theyopted for free competition inelections as the way to select ourfuture leaders. They did so becausethis system works better in the longrun.
2. In a way it tries to improve the knowledge and characterof political leaders. The other andmore realistic way is to set up asystem where political leaders arerewarded for serving the people andpunished for not doing so.
3. So if a political party is motivated only by a desire to be in power, even then it will be forced to serve the people.
4. Political competition may cause divisions and some ugliness, but it finally helps to force political parties and leaders to serve the people.

How elections are held in India

General Election.

Elections are held in all constituencies at the same time, either on the same day or within a few days. This is called a general election.

By-election

Sometimes election is held only for one constituency or two to fill the vacancy caused by death or resignation of a member. This is called a by-election.

Electoral constituencies

The country is divided into different areas based on population for the purpose of elections.These areas are called electoral constituencies. For LokSabha elections, the country

is divided into 543 constituencies.

Reserved Constituencies and need for Reserved Constituencies

Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes.In a reserved constituency only someone who belongs to the Scheduled

Castes or Scheduled Tribes can stand for election.

Our Constitution entitles every citizento to elect its representative and to beelected as a representative. TheConstitution makersworried that in an open electoralcompetition, weaker sectionsmay not stand a good chance to getelected.

Voters’ list

The list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before the election and given to everyone. This list is officially called Electoral Roll and is commonly known as the Voters’List.

In our country, all the citizens aged18 years and above can vote in an election. Every citizen has the right to vote, regardless of his or her caste, religion or gender.

Some criminals and persons with an unsound mind can be denied the right to vote, but only in rare situations.

In the last few years, a new system of Election Photo Identity Card[EPIC] has been introduced. The government has tried to give this card to every person on the voter’s list.

Nomination of candidates

Anyone who can be a voter can also become a candidate in elections. The only difference is that in order to be the candidate the minimum age is 25years, while it is only 18 years for being a voter.

Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a nomination form’ and give some money as ‘security deposit’.

Legal declaration introduced by the Supreme Court for filing Nomination papers.

1. Every candidate has to make a legaldeclaration, giving full details of Serious criminal cases pendingagainst the candidate;
2. Every candidate has to make a legal declaration, giving full details of Details of the assets and liabilitiesof the candidate and his or herfamily; and
3. Every candidate has to make a legal declaration, giving full details of Education qualifications of thecandidate.

Why is there no educational qualification for candidates to conduct elections?

1. Educational qualifications are not relevant to all kinds of jobs. The relevant qualification for being an MLA or an MP is the ability to understand people’s concerns, problems and to represent their interests.
2. Even if education was relevant, it should beleave to the people to decide how much importance they give to educational qualifications.
3. In our country putting an educationalqualification would go against the spirit ofdemocracy for yet another reason. It wouldmean depriving a majority of the country’scitizens the right to contest elections(with poor literacy rate)

Election Campaign

In our country such campaignstake place for a two-week periodbetween the announcement of thefinal list of candidates and the dateof polling. During this period thecandidates contact their voters,political leaders address electionmeetings and political partiesmobilize their supporters.

some of thesuccessful slogans given by differentpolitical parties in various elections.

1. The Congress party led by Indira Gandhi gave the slogan ofGaribiHatao(Remove poverty) in the Lok Sabha elections of 1971.
2. Save Democracy was the slogan given by Janata Party in the next Lok Sabha election held in 1977.The party promised to undo the excesses committed during an emergency and restore civil liberties.
3. The Left Front used the slogan of land to the Tiller in the WestBengal Assembly elections held in1977.
4. Protect the Self-Respect of the Telugus’ was the slogan used by. T. Rama Rao, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections in1983.

Rules for election campaign for fair and equal chance to compete

OR

Model Code of Conduct for election campaigns

1. According to our election law, no party or candidate can bribe or threaten voters.
2. According to our election law, no party or candidate can appeal to them in the name of caste or religion.
3. According to our election law, noparty or candidate canuse government resources forelection campaign; and
4. According to our election law, noparty or candidate can spend more than Rs. 25 lakh in aconstituency for a LokSabha electionor Rs. 10 lakh in a constituency inan Assembly election.
5.  According to this no party or candidate can use any place of worship for election propaganda.
6. According to our election law, no party or candidate use government vehicles, aircraft, and officials for elections; and
7. Once elections are announced, Ministers shall not lay foundation stones of any projects, take any big policy decisions or make any promises of providing public facilities.

Polling and counting of votes

The final stage of an election is the day when the voters cast or ‘poll’their vote. That day is usually called the election day. Every person whose name is on the voters’ list can go toa nearby ‘polling booth’, and cast vote.

Nowadays electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes. The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols.

A few days later, on afixed date, all the EVMs from aconstituency are opened and thevotes secured by each candidate arecounted. Thecandidate who secures the highestnumber of votes from a constituencyis declared elected

 WHAT MAKES ELECTIONS IN INDIADEMOCRATIC?

Election Commission

An independent and powerful commission appointed by the President of India to conduct free and fair election is called Election Commission. The commission has three members and once they are appointed, they are not answerable to the President or the government.

Powers and functions of the Election Commission of India.

1. EC takes decisions on every aspect of conduct and control of elections from the announcement of elections to the declaration of results.
2. It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that violates it.
3. During the election period, the ECcan order the government to followsome guidelines, to prevent use andmisuse of governmental power toenhance its chances to winelections, or to transfer somegovernment officials.
4. When on election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC and not the government.

Popular participation of people in Election

1. People’s participation in the election is usually measured by voter turnout figures. Turnout indicates the percent of eligible voters who actually cast their vote. InIndia the turnout has eitherremained stable or actually goneup.
2. In India, the poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the rich and privileged sections.
3. Common people in India attach a lot of importance to elections. They feel that through elections they can bring pressure on political parties to adopt policies and programmes favorable to them.
4. The interest of voters in election-related activities has been increasing over the years. During the 2004 elections, more than one-third voters took part in campaign-related activities. Morethan half of the people are being close to one or the other political party.

Acceptance of electionoutcome by the candidates and parties

1. The ruling parties routinely loseelections in India both at thenational and state level. In fact inevery two out of the three electionsheld in the last fifteen years, theruling party lost.
2. In India, about half of the sitting MPs or MLAs lose elections.
3. Candidates who are known to have spent a lot of money on ‘buyingvotes’ and those with known criminal connections often lose elections.
4. Barring very few disputed elections, the electoral outcomes are usually accepted as ‘people’verdict’ by the defeated party.

Challenges to free and fair elections in India

1. Candidates and parties with a lot of money may not be sure of their victory but they do enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and independents.
2. In some parts of the country, candidates with criminal connection have been able to push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ticket’ from major parties.
3. Some families tend to dominate political parties; tickets are distributed to relatives from these families.
4. Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens, for both the major parties are quite similar to each other both policies and practice.
5. Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage compared to bigger parties.

Short Notes

Booth capturing:

Supporters or hired musclemen of party or a candidate gain physical control of a polling booth and cast false votes by threatening everyone or by preventing genuine voters from reaching the polling booth.

Code of Conduct:

A set of norms and guidelines to be followed by political parties and contesting candidates during election time.

Incumbent:

The current holder of a political office. Usually, the choice for the voters in elections is between the incumbent party or candidate and those who oppose them.

Level playing field:

A condition in which all parties and candidates contesting in an election have equal opportunities to appeal for votes and to carry out election campaign.

Rigging:

Fraud and malpractice indulged by a party or candidate to increase votes. It includes stuffing ballot boxes by a few persons using the votes of others; recording multiple votes by the same person, and bribing or coercing polling officers to favor a candidate.